


Game Night

by kiwilicious



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Double Date, F/M, Fluff, Friendly competition, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 00:10:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17233751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwilicious/pseuds/kiwilicious
Summary: In order to get to know the new man in Taako's life and reconnect with her brother, Lup suggests a game night double date to play the hit game Capitalism. Tensions run high in this highly competitive game and friendships will be tested and forged.





	Game Night

"Krav, honey, you know me. I'm just not that competitive." Taako lazily waved a hand in the hair while lying on the bed. "I'm just too chill for that."

"Sweetie, you literally banished Merle to the Plane of Fire because he won Clue on the first round," Kravitz said with a chuckle while gently playing with Taako's hair. 

"Well, he clearly cheated!" Taako threw his hands in the air. "That's not being competitive, that's just having morals."

"At least three of Magnus's scars are from Pictionary." 

"It's not my fault he sucks at drawing," Taako said with a smug grin.

"Babe," Kravitz said softly, "three words. The Scrabble Calamity." Taako stopped smiling and whipped his head to look Kravitz in the eye.

"We don't fucking talk about The Scrabble Calamity." Taako shook his head as Kravitz rolled onto his back cackling. There was a knock at the door, to which Taako sighed, stood up, and answered the door. He barely got the door completely open before Lup tackled him to the ground. It only had been three months since the Day of Story and Song, and Taako still hadn't gotten used to being about to hold his sister again. She felt different to hug than when they were kids. Her lich form inside her made hugging her feel like hugging firecrackers in a pillowcase. Lup laid on top of him and giggled as Barry popped into the doorframe with a hesitant wave.

"Hey guys," Barry greeted. He helped Lup off of her brother and then laced his fingers through hers. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"What's up, nerds?" Lup said with a grin. Kravitz stood up from the bed and went to help Taako up off the ground. 

"Hey, Lup." Kravitz chuckled. "What brings you here, tackling my boyfriend?"

"Well, I've got about ten years of catching up to do with my brother, and now he has someone new in his life?" Lup playfully put her hand on his chest and gave it a light shove. "We need to get to know each other. And what better way than with a game?" Taako's long ears perked up.

"What game?" He asked eagerly. She grinned and pulled a game box out of seemingly nowhere and presented it to the group.

"It's called Capitalism! It's supposed to be fun but I've heard it's a total friendship-ender. We HAVE to play it! Call it a double date!" Lup stood up on her tiptoes and made herself a little bit taller than her brother. 

"Where did you pull that box out of?" Kravitz asked.

"Don’t worry about it! Tomorrow at 7! Taako, make that spinach dip that Auntie always made!" Lup turned to leave, dragging Barry behind her. She let out a shrill "whoo" in the hallway of their dormitory. Taako closed the door and turned back to Kravitz, who was staring wide-eyed.

"What's wrong, babe? Doesn't it sound fun?" Taako put his hands around Kravitz's waist and looked up at him.

"Well, there's a few things. For one, if I think you're competitive, I can't imagine how Lup is, let alone you two together." Kravitz leaned his face down to place his forehead against Taako's. "Also Lup, Barry, and I haven't really talked since the whole, you know, story and song world-saving. Also, they're both liches. We've like, kinda dealt with that, but it's still a little awkward. But, I mean . . . " Kravitz sighs and closes his eyes. "What if she doesn't like me?"

"What? Babe, that's crazy." Taako looked up at him and stood up on his toes, kissing him on the cheek. "You're like, the best person I've ever met. Of course she'll love you." Kravitz smiled a bit. "The lich stuff we can deal with later, and, like, I'm not that competitive, so it's fine!" That made Kravitz laugh.

"Okay, then. It'll be fun."

"That's the spirit!" Taako pulled him in closer and gave him a peck on the lips. He let go and began to step back before Kravitz grabbed him and kissed him deeply. Taako went a bit limp for a moment before putting his hands on Kravitz's cold cheeks and kissing back. After a moment, Taako sighed contentedly and pulled back just a bit. Kravitz smiled softly and gave him a kiss on the forehead. 

\-- -- -- -- -- 

"Krav, honey, you almost ready? They'll be here soon." Taako yelled from the living room as Kravitz finished tying his bowtie in the bathroom mirror. He sighed and entered the living room. Taako set up a square folding card table with four folding chairs around it. The countertop was covered with various drinks and snacks, including a very fancy cheese tray and bags of chips next to a bowl of spinach dip. Taako was saying spell words to a bottle of wine.

"Whatcha doing?" Kravitz asked. Taako looked up at him and grinned.

"I'm uttering a decantation!" Taako answered, barely holding back a giggle. "Get it?" Kravitz raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "It's an incantation to decant the wine!" Kravitz sighed and rested his face in his hands.

"Honey, that's so bad. I can't even look at you." Kravitz used his hands to hide his smile. A knock on the door interrupted his shame, and he stood up straight and looked at it.

"Come in!" Taako lilted. The door opened and Lup entered, wearing a pair of denim cut-off shorts, a black crop top, and a grey open flannel. Barry followed close behind wearing blue jeans and a Tuff Greg t-shirt. Taako met Lup at the door and gave her a long, tight hug, while Barry and Kravitz waved at each other stood to the side. 

"You thugs ready for some Capitalism?" Lup stepped back, then walked over to the table and laid the box on the table. She and Taako began setting up the game while Barry and Kravitz served snacks and drinks. Soon everything was set up, and they took their places at the table. 

"Alright! To win you just gotta take everybody else's money. Easy enough!" Lup took a big gulp of her wine and rolled the two dice. She rolled a 3. "FUCK." With a flick of her finger, she moved her piece (a small metal umbrella that Taako transmuted for her) and landed on the Phandolin space.

"Whoops," Taako said with a giggle. "They should update this game."

"Yikes-a-roonie." Lup shrugged. "I'll buy it." Kravitz, who was in charge of the money, took her 60 gold and gave her the property card of Phandalin. 

"It's Taako time!" Taako rolled 7 and landed on the Treasure Chest space. He clapped excitedly and drew a card from the chest deck and read it aloud. "Robbed by bandits, lose one hundred gold." 

"Oh snap!" Lup snickered. Taako sighed and pulled out a bill labeled with one hundred gold and set it in the center of the board. Up next was Barry. He rolled 5 and landed on The Rockport Limited. He bounced up and down excitedly.

"Ooh! I want that!" and hands Kravitz two hundred gold. 

"Good job babe!" Lup squeezed his hand. Kravitz reached for the dice and tossed them onto the board. He rolled a 9 and landed on the Waterdeep Port District space, purchasing it for 120 gold. Taako smiled and gave him a high five. With that, the game was fully underway.

An hour passed, and the board had developed. Lup owned one railroad and was starting to build houses on two sets of properties. Taako also was building houses on two sets, but he owned more individual properties. Barry had three of the four railroads and one utility, but only a few properties. Finally, Kravitz had the other utility and three whole complete sets of properties, with two houses on each set, except for the luxurious Goldcliffe set that had four sets of houses on it, totaling the rent cost to 1300 gold and 1700 gold. Nobody had landed on the Goldcliffe sets, but Kravitz was ready for them if they did.

"Taako, if you give me the Woven Gulch I will clean your house for a month," Lup pleaded with her brother.

"Fuck no! First off, I have magic powers, and second, I am not gonna let you complete that set! You'd wreck our shit!" Taako took a swig of wine and shuffled through his property cards. Barry held up one card to Kravitz.

"I'll trade you the Felicity Wilds for the Neverwinter Railways, Krav. I complete your set, you complete mine. Deal?" Barry proposed the deal and Kravitz leaned back in his chair and scrutinized his opponent. He had taken off his suit jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. 

"Tempting, but . . . " Kravitz hummed before sitting up. "Throw in 300 gold and I'll do it."

"Shit! That's so much!" Barry took off his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. He put them back on and counted his gold. "But . . . I need that card."

"What will it be, Barold?" Kravitz had never called him that before, but he was wine tipsy and he'd heard Taako call him that. Barry sighed.

"Fine. I'll do it." Barry handed over the Felicity Wilds and 300 gold. Kravitz grinned and traded his railroad. 

The game continued. After another hour Barry and Taako had been eliminated, and Lup was down to her last property set with 600 gold. Kravitz had lost some properties in the battle, but he was still holding strong. The boyfriends watched intensely to see who would come out on top. Lup grinned like she had some big plan, and spent her remaining gold on placing houses on her one set and ended her turn. Kravitz raised an eyebrow and sunk a large chunk of his gold into replacing houses with two sets of big taverns on his Goldcliffe set after moving four spaces. Lup took a deep breath and rolled. Seven. She counted out the spaces and her eyes went wide as she landed on the Goldcliffe Trust Bank. Kravitz cackled maniacally. 

"My dear, sweet Lup, that will be . . . " Kravitz quietly totaled the cost. "Four thousand gold." Lup's eyes went wide as she frantically counted her properties, but it was a lost cause. That one space had completely decimated her. She folded her arms and huffed out a sigh as Kravitz leaned back, crossing his legs and taking a triumphant sip of his wine. 

"Whatever." She muttered. "While you were refilling the drinks I stole thousands of dollars from the bank." Kravitz chuckled dryly.

"That's okay. I stole your properties and then sold them back to you." Lup gasped and then stood up quickly, wreathed in a red aura.

That's when Kravitz blacked out. 

\-- -- -- -- -- 

When Kravitz woke up, he was on the floor next to the upturned card table and scattered cards and pieces. Kravitz looked up and thought he was seeing two of Taako, but it just the twins kneeling beside him. 

"What the hell happened?" Kravitz sat up just a little bit.

"Honey, my sore-loser sister has something to say to you." Taako rubbed his thumb gently over Kravitz's forehead, which made him wince with the presence of sudden pain.

"Hey, buddy," Lup said with a sweet, apologetic tone. "I'm very sorry that I got a little salty and threw a wine glass at your face. I may have liched out a bit and lost my cool. Plus I can get violent when I'm wine-drunk." 

"You . . . Threw a wine glass at my face? Is that why it hurts?" Kravitz stood up with the help of Taako and fully assessed the destruction. The entire room was in a state of disarray. Taako stood up on his tiptoes and lightly kissed the wound on Kravitz's forehead.

"Yes. I'm very sorry. It was a very good game and I had a lot of fun." Lup stood up as well and fidgeted with the buttons on her flannel. Kravitz laughed at the scene before him and shook his head. 

"It's okay. I had a great time too." Kravitz held his hand out to Lup. She grinned and eagerly shook it. "You were a very worthy competitor."

"Hell yeah! What do you say we make this a weekly thing?" Lup asked and gently elbowed Kravitz.

"Maybe a different game, but sure." During the conversation, Barry showed up with Merle in tow. 

"Jeez, guys! Wild night?" Merle asked as he crossed through the room towards Kravitz.

"You could say that." Kravitz chuckled. He kneeled down and allowed Merle to check out the wound on his head. Only minor healing required. After fixing up Kravitz, Merle left and left the four of them alone. Barry gave Lup a kiss on the cheek and began to pick up the game pieces off of the floor. Lup reached out and put her hand on Kravitz's face. 

"You know, Skeletor," Lup said with a grin. "You seem like a good match for my brother. You seem to make him really happy." Kravitz smiled.

"I really love him, Lup. He changed my life." Kravitz grabbed Taako's hand and laced their fingers together. Taako leaned his head against Kravitz's shoulder. 

"Isn't this dude the coolest?" Taako excitedly asked Lup.

"Yeah, he's pretty dope." Barry set the table and chairs back up and they all sat down again. Taako conjured up some coffee and the four of them talked until late at night, all sense of hesitance and awkwardness gone. With one eventful night, a new tradition between the heroes began.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Candlenights present for charmandhex on tumblr!! Sorry for the delay!
> 
> Also a lot of this is inspired by an exhausting game of monopoly I played in high school, where one person admitted to stealing money, and another admitted to stealing property from him and selling it back to him. It was the funniest damn thing. Monopoly is the worst game ever invented.


End file.
